The Shape Of Things For Family Therapist, Art Is Natural Extension Of Expressing Feelings.

October 26, 1988|By DOROTHY-ANNE FLOR, Staff Writer

Linda Shotz has found a way to package her life for optimum satisfaction. A logical move. After all, if your business is to guide others to this same goal, you should be able to serve as an example.

Three days a week Shotz, who lives in Pembroke Pines, drives to her office in Davie to tend to clientele in all kinds of trouble. She`s well-prepared. She`s a licensed marriage and family therapist; a mental health counselor; diplomate in medical psychology and sex therapist. Last, but by no means least, she`s a registered art therapist.

``There are very few (of us) in South Florida,`` she says. ``When I have either adults or children who aren`t expressing feelings verbally, I ask them to draw how they feel. I can use their drawings for diagnostic purposes and to facilitate self-awareness.``

Stotz`s training includes a bachelor`s degree in physiology and psychology from the University of Florida; a master`s degree from Nova University in Davie, and a doctorate in human sexuality from California Coast University in Santa Ana.

She is a member of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and the American Association of Artists/Therapists; the International Sculpture Center and the National Museum of Women in the Arts. She`s listed in the 1985 Marquis Who`s Who in the South; the 1988 Who`s Who of American Women; Five Thousand Personalities of the World, and the American Biological Institute`s 1984 Edition One.

On the remaining two days of the week, Shotz drives south instead of north, to pursue a private life as an artist at her studio and gallery at the Bakehouse Art Complex in Miami. There, she focuses on the human form with pencil, paint and sculpture. Mostly self-taught, her work gives the impression of vibrant energy, movement and, at the same time, softness and sensuality. ``I think more sensuality and spirituality than sexuality,`` she says.

As an offshoot of her life as an artist, she teaches classes in drawing from life at Broward Art Guild Gallery and School, Fort Lauderdale. ``I volunteer my teaching time. I`ve been doing this since 1980 and think I`m the only faculty member who has been active for such a long period,`` she says. ``Except for the models` fees, I give all money that comes in through student fees back to the Guild.``

Shotz and her husband, Fred, also a psychologist, share the same office space and a hobby. They create and publish greeting cards through Gold Coast Publishing Company in Fort Lauderdale. Fred writes the poetry. She copies the poems in calligraphy and illustrates them with her drawings.

FACULTY SHOW FEATURED

A faculty exhibition, including the work of 20 of Florida`s most outstanding artists and art educators who teach Broward Art Guild School classes, is on display on the sixth floor of Florida Atlantic University Tower Building, 220 SE Second Ave., Fort Lauderdale.

Sponsored by Broward Art Guild School and Gallery, the exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays and noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays through Dec. 31. Admission is free.